Roccat denying 2 year warranty - shocking customer service!

jackhulk

Hello

I purchased Roccat Sota mouse mat for £15 10 months ago but already it's become defect. I've had many mats, most of which have been freebies and yet all have lasted many many years, so after spending the most I've ever spent on a mouse mat only for it to become defective in a very short space of time, I was quite disappointed. No worries I thought as there is still plenty warranty left, but how wrong I was.

I contacted Roccat directly but they advised I contact shop. Contacted shop and they advised I need to contact Roccat. After a number of not very helpful emails Roccat finally asked there UK distributors to contact me in order to return defect mat in exchange for replacement.

All well and good, sent mat back (cost £2.49 2nd class recorded), received email back say exchange will be provided but first I need to pay £5.32 for return P&P?! Several emails sent asking why are they attempting to charge me double of what it actually cost to send item? They advised due to extra weight due to new item with packaging being sent etc which is fair enough, but the £5.32 is still overcharging as I know weight of this item with packaging and it still wouldn't come to more than £3.25 1st recorded.

Let me just say here that I know £5.32 is not a lot, but add that to the return p&p I've already paid and I would have paid out over 50% of the original purchase price just to exchange a defect item well within the warranty period. Add to that the already poor service, I felt I needed to take a stand here.

Emails back and forth and I advised if they require P&P paid that they need to invoice Roccat directly and I CC Roccat in on the email.

Distributors eventually came through and advised as a gesture of goodwill they will return via standard non recorded post. Item arrived next day, I thank distributors and I considered matter closed.

I then received the following from Roccat.........

"Hello Mr. Upfold,

I think you´ve forgot something. We said: okay, you´ll get a new mouse mat, we made a step closer to you! We made it possible! And everything we get back is a: “we don´t acting fair”?!

I really regret I don´t ask for a photo of the 24 month warranty part standing on Sota mouse mat and said no, because we never gave 2 year warranty or wrote it on it. And for being nice me and my colleagues getting a freaking out guy.

Mr. Upfold we won´t refund your shipping cost and you need to pay your invoices if you got one.

But I think it was last time we´ve been able to make an exception for our customer. It´s customers like you´re one, making it impossible to doing a god support and find a solution for customers in a way of shake hands. Your attitude is a shame, I won´t risk to do it to my colleagues again.

So please send me a photo of that 24 month warranty part, we won`t do anything for you until we saw it.

Viele Grüße / Kind regards,
Marco Huemer
Tech-Support

MarcoHue@roccat.org
https://www.roccat.org
The Roccstars of Gaming now on twitter, facebook and YouTube:
twitter.com/ROCCAT facebook.com/ROCCAT youtube.com/user/roccatstudios

ROCCAT GmbH
Gasstr. 6 B
22761 Hamburg
Germany"

Throughout all my emails, I put my points across strongly, but in the correct and professional way, so the above attack on me was more than a surprise. My reply....

"This is without a doubt the most unprofessional email I've ever received. It's YOUR attitude that is shocking, not mine! I'm a disgruntled customer with a defect item who has a right to be annoyed. I have not attacked you personally what so ever and expect the same respect in return. I've received better support from private eBay traders than this! Your total lack of professionalism for representing a well established company is nothing short of amazing!

First off I think you need to go back to business school, start from scratch and learn about customer relations all over again; and how they effect your businesses reputation and more importantly your profits. To help you along, here's a good place to start......

http://www.goodcustomerservice.org/poor-customer-service/

The fact that this item comes with 24 months is irrelevant really as this product became defect well within the standard 12 month period, so you disputing the fact about it coming with 24 months is puzzling. Asking for picture proof of your very own product, that you know as well as I do that it's being sold with 24 months warranty, is shocking and boarding on criminal. After a little research it appears this is not the first time Roccat has sold products claiming 24m warranty only to deny it when a problem arises. This is false advertising and you will be held accountable!

Mr S Morley
"Less than a months usage shouldn't kill a mouse. I could have recieved a faulty profuct, but my experience with Roccat has been bad, and so I can't recommend it."
Source

Gerry Graham
"I had similar issues with Roccat. I had the original Kone and the scroll wheel broke(a known issue). When I contacted Roccat they first feinged ignorance regarding the issue but did'nt want to know in any case. I was fobbed off, so you are correct Roccat's customer support is quite lacking when it comes to their so called 2 year warranty."
Source

DiCe!
" I lost a scroll wheel on a kone and they (Roccat) basically just said tough luck mate thanks for the cash, as they said they don't replace!"

MrZippo
"Yeah, I send an emal back to roccat telling them what's the point of giving 2 year warranty on products if they don't honour it and they will never get my support ever again"

Companies such as yours continue to amaze me. You work so hard creating excellent products (apart from build quality) but then neglect your customer base, your most important asset of all! What your email has done here is not only alienated myself but a great many others too as I will make dam sure I inform as many people as possible about your sorry state of customer 'service'!

Thanks to the professionalism of Linda at Meroncourt, I have already received my replacement mat so require nothing more from you other than for you to go away, stop emailing me and wasting my time.

@ Linda - I would recommend you flag this incident as it appears you are dealing with a bunch of rookies incapable of dealing with problems in the correct way. In turn that will have a detrimental effect on your very own business if they continue to treat customers this way."

I seldom post on forums regarding poor customer service, but this one tops the lot and so felt it necessary to share, and hopefully this will prevent others facing the same problems I have. Needless to say I will never purchase a Roccat product again.

squeaky

Hi,

We have a board where members can post warnings such as yours, so I'll move the thread across for you.

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL='forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com']forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

jackhulk

Ok thank you squeaky. Sorry I wasn't aware of this board.

vuvuzela

Just wondering, how did the mat become faulty ?

bluenoseam

Given we're not privvy to the email's you've sent them it's going on the assumption which you want us to that you weren't communicating in an antagonistic way, if you're querying P&P in the way you are this is an assumption i wouldn't really be willing to make!

They ultimately i think had until this point acted quite admirably, offering to replace your product, you have also made an assumption that it would be Royal Mail used to post it out to you, check the address of the CS advisor - it's coming from Germany, so the postage will be based on THEIR end. I do agree with you in so much as that the email is a bit nippy, but ultimately you're not dealing with a company with a reputation for being STRICTLY BUSINESS, as to your boycot of their products, feel free to do so, i doubt they'll give much of a monkeys to be honest.

jackhulk

Throughout all my emails, I put my points across strongly, but in the correct and professional way, so last reply I received Roccat was unacceptable.

Postage prices was not based in Germany. As above return was to UK distributors and from UK distributors back to me.

I have posted here because I am angry at being treated like this and to warn others to expect the same should their own Roccat products become faulty. I'm self-employed myself and wouldn't dream of treating disgruntled customer's the way Roccat have treated me.

I agree 100% that they clearly couldn't 'give much of a monkeys' if I boycot there products, but they will eventually when they have alienated enough customers for mud to stick and give themselves a bad reputation.

Oliver14

I'm just shocked thst anyone would pay £15 for a mousemat in the first place.

PinkLipgloss

Regardless of the contents of the OP's emails to Roccat, I think it is fair to say that the response he received was completely unprofessional. I personally would be shocked to receive such an email.

I am specifically referring to comments such as "freaking out guy" and "making it impossible to doing a god support and find a solution for customers in a way of shake hands. Your attitude is a shame, I won´t risk to do it to my colleagues again."

It is worth noting however, that I suspect these may have been badly translated using a free online service such as "google translate". That said, I would not expect a professional company to resort to using a free online translation service. Free online translation, or completely intentional remarks - either way Roccat have displayed a complete lack of professionalism.

As such, it's another company to add to my "avoid list".

jackhulk

Thanks PinkLipgloss.

There were many emails back and forth which is why I only included the main two above, which are already quite lengthy so didn't want to bore with the rest. As above I complained strongly, but in a professional way as I hope you will see from the below. I come from a customer support back ground so know the do's and dont's and in no way said anything that deserved that response from Roccat.

Anyway to clear things up with regards to content, here are all the emails to Roccat and replies received prior to the last one above (first post). I think this will only compound the un-professionalism of Roccat's last reply even further as it was not called for due to anything I had said, so actually glad to include.

1st Email To Roccat
Hello

I purchase the Roccat Sota mouse mat from Play.com on 21/10/10. Great mat, however after limited use the left hand corner started to bow upwards cause problems with the mouse laser and therefore performance. Over time that bow has increased to such a point that this mat is now not usable, not at least without much frustration.

I understand this product comes with 24 months warranty and so my item is still covered. Therefore please can you send replacement ASAP.

Thank you

Roccat reply
Thanks for choosing ROCCAT.

It sounds like a hardware defect. You can exchange Sota at the shop you bought it from.

An exchange via us is unfortunately not possible.

Feel free to write to me again, if anything is unclear or if you need further assistance.

My reply
No sorry I tried that but Play.com advise I need to contact you. This mouse mat was very expensive and expected it to last a lot longer than it has. After limited use the left hand corner started to bow upwards cause problems with the mouse laser and therefore performance. Over time that bow has increased to such a point that this mat is now not usable, not at least without much frustration.

This item is defective with the 24 months warranty period and therefore I would like a replacement please.

I look forward to your reply.

Roccat reply
It´s right you got a 24 month warranty and it´s play.com deed to exchange it. They got a contract with their distributor.

Please show them our mail.

Otherwise you could send it to Germany, but the shipping costs at minimum 11,-€ do want to pay it?

My reply
Thank you and I agree, they need to provide exchange, however I have emailed them again explaining this AND showed them this email but they still refuse to provide exchange. I will forward their email straight after this.

All I require is a replacement for defect item still under the very first year of warranty, this shouldn't be a difficult task but yet I'm being played like a ping pong ball between the two of you. Please can you contact play.com directly and advise them what you have told me as they will not listen to me.

Play.com Contact details.
Email: customercare@play.com
Phone: 0845 800 1020

Roccat reply
we are already working on it, I forwarded it to our distributor.

The UK distributor then contacted me, but as above in my first post there was a further dispute over the attempt to charge me over double P&P for returning item to me. As we discussed this I CC'ed Roccat in on the emails. The UK distributor's were very professional and in the end as a gesture of good will they agreed to waiver the return P&P charge. My last reply to UK distributor was "Much appreciated, thank you Linda." and I considered the matter closed. Then a few hours later I received that email from Roccat.

On top of that email, Roccat start to lie about the 2 years warranty. This product comes with 2 years warranty, no questioning that as Roccat themselves confirmed in earlier emails stating quite clearly "It´s right you got a 24 month warranty". Last email states "we never gave 2 year warranty"?! Point is Roccat will not honour warranty, I simply got lucky. Had UK distributor not already dispatched replacement and it was left to Roccat to do so, as their last email states, I would not have received replacement.

PinkLipgloss

Well if that's their definition of a "freaking out guy" I'd love to know how they would define a real difficult customer..... :rotfl:

Techhead_2

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

Well if that's their definition of a "freaking out guy" I'd love to know how they would define a real difficult customer..... :rotfl:

We haven't seen all the emails, you'll notice suddenly changes to a summary of what happened. (We have the early stages in great detail but the contentious exchange is summarised)

My personal opinion is that its been handled poorly by both sides.